UNESCO and INSYDE collaborate to combat digital violence and protect journalists in Baja California

UNESCO and INSYDE held their pilot program for Mexican journalists, police officers, public officials and human rights defenders, aiming to provide them with tools and training to combat digital violence.
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At the request of the Subsecretariat of Human Rights in Baja California, UNESCO and INSYDE have joined forces to provide tools and training to more than 45 individuals, including journalists, human rights defenders, public officials, and police officers in Baja California, Mexico.

Their collaboration aims to combat attacks on freedom of expression and access to information, with a specific focus on digital violence and violence against women journalists. Its significance intensifies in the lead-up to the 2024 super-electoral year, with over 80 countries conducting elections. This collaboration comes as a response to the increase in digital violence against journalists, the use of non-lethal attacks, and a concerning increase in killings of women journalists.

Viridiana Garcia, the National Communication Offices for UNESCO in Mexico, highlighted the growing challenge of verifying information, especially with the advent of AI tools that can create deceptive content like photos, videos, and audio. She emphasized UNESCO’s commitment to global regulation of digital platforms, clarifying that the goal is not censorship but rather the protection of human rights.

Regarding its mission in Mexico, UNESCO finds that by gathering information from the field, the local journalists themselves offer significant insight into their challenges and would serve to create new public policy and methodology proposals.